USA Network's Psych Social Media Marathon Spurs Ratings

By J T. Ramsay
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Mar 06, 2013

The seventh season premiere of USA's Psych drew 2.9 million total viewers according to Nielsen, up 20% year over year. The show also grew its audience 22% with adults 18-49 to 1.3 million and another 17% with adults 25-54 to 1.2 million. Psych drew 723,000 viewers among adults 18-34, up some 41%.

Fueling that growth was Psych's Slumber Party marathon. The network reinvented the viewer’s choice marathon by making it a social, real-time party in which fans shared the screen with the cast while they watched at home. Fans tracked all the Slumber Party activity via an online HQ, aptly named PSYCHVille during the seven-hour marathon leading up to the premiere.

In this Forbes Q&A, Jesse Redniss, SVP, Digital, USA Network, explains how the network uses social media and gamification to achieve those results.